Wounded Butterfly
by EndlessMemories
Summary: He... he had asked me to marry him only three hours earlier… She sniffed and looked up at me. She loved you, you know, she really did. She told me once that if it wasn't for you... her voice broke completely and she continued sobbing...oneshot pre-DH


DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything you recognize its just me having some fun with my writing :D 

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Have you ever tried catching butterflies? Pretty hard huh? Well when I was little, Ginny and I used to spend hours in the garden trying to catch those summer butterflies. One day, after hours of tireless jumping, I finally caught one. The butterfly flew around as I opened my hands just wide enough to see inside. I could clearly see the brown specks on its white wings and I started to walk over to show Ginny. However, on the way over, I tripped, (probably on a gnome no less) and the butterfly flew onto a flower nearby. I went to pick it up again but instead I grabbed a piece of its wing. The wing fell off as the butterfly wandered around on the flower, no longer whole. Words cannot express the look on Ginny's face as she and I watched the butterfly fall helplessly onto the ground, unable to fly. All she said was, "Aww, the poor things wounded." And it was.

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Years went by, and I went to school where I met another butterfly. However, this time, she was real.

When I first met her, I didn't consider her a butterfly. She wasn't pretty, at least not yet. She was a smart girl, smartest in our year actually, with bushy-brown hair and big brown eyes. At first, I found her bossy and repulsive, but eventually we became "friends." We both loathed each other, but hate and love are closely related and by third year, I was in love. Over the summer, she had gone from caterpillar to butterfly and come out of her cocoon. She had become beautiful, her bushy hair was curlier and her bossy outer-covering was gone. We fought endlessly, but I did not care. It was amazing how fast she could make my blood boil and then two seconds later it was as if nothing had ever happened. As long as I could be near her, I would withstand any name-calling she threw at me. After all, the way to insult me was to insult her. I wanted to kill Malfoy when he called her a mud blood but that just backfired on me, literally. I was infatuated, but I'm also pretty good at hiding my feelings. I tried not to let anyone- not even Harry- know just how much I cared about her. Her name was Hermione- and I loved her.

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Finally, in 6th year she and I admitted our feelings to each other. It took me all of that "gryffindor courage" to ask her out. I still can't believe she ever returned my feelings. Unfortunately, Harry was beyond jealous, and we had to put up with alot of yelling and him being, well, unreasonable. For some reason or other we still stayed by his side, even to the end. Just as seventh year came to a close, disaster struck. Dumbledore was defeated in what was called, "the battle to end all battles." However, the battle didn't end all; Voldemort was still alive, even though most of his followers weren't.

I knew we were coming to the end of something, but I wasn't sure what. So, I asked Hermione to marry me, right then and there. I didn't even have time to become nervous, and she didn't have time to think. It was an impulse and in three months, we were to be married.

Little did we know that we didn't even have three weeks together.

Soon, Harry knew it was the right time. He had to defeat Voldemort before he could regain power. Of course, being the stubborn friends that we were, Ginny, Neville, and Hermione and I would not let him face Voldemort on his own. Despite how many times Harry explained to us that he and only he could defeat Voldemort, there was no other way. Yet no matter how Harry tried to argue, we still insisted on tagging along.

The last battle was fierce, you could just see the hatred in everyone's eyes as we fought the last of the remaining death-eaters. Many people died that night. As the battles finished, I looked around in a stunned amazement at the mangled bodies surrounding me. Voldemort had not shown himself yet, and we were beginning to wonder of his bravery. Dark marks pathetically hovered over some people, while others were still suffering from the horrible curses upon them. I wandered around for a while helping some, and finishing off others. As I walked I found Neville, he was wounded but triumphant. Ginny was still hanging onto Harry as though her life depended on it, and Harry didn't seem to mind. However, where was my beautiful fiancée? I started looking for her, asking if anyone had seen her. Panic hit me and I started running, searching everywhere for her and calling her name. Relief flooded over me as finally, I found her, limping towards me, and absolutely beaming. We ran into each other's arms, and just as we kissed, I saw that dreaded flash of green light coming towards us. I froze, wanting to duck us out of the way, wanting to warn her, but nothing happened. I just stood there as the green light hit her square in the back and she collapsed limply into my arms- dead. Hermione belonged to me- more to me than to the world. I had been the only one who ever really cared for her, and Hermione had failed me. She went and died just when I needed her most. She had made me leave my old self behind, I came into her world, and then, before I was really at home in it- but too late to go back, she left me stranded there. Alone. There was nowhere to go. Nowhere. Ever again.

I looked for her murderer and found a pair of red-glaring eyes staring back at me from a long, black cloak. He laughed and pointed his wand at me as well. I stood there, waiting for those precious, life-ending words to save me from the pain of living without Hermione, but they never came.

Instead, Harry came running up behind me and pushed me out of the way.

"Sorry mate," he said, and to Voldemort, " You're quarrel is not with him, but with me. Let's end this."

"With pleasure." Voldemort spat back at him.

I don't know how long they dueled but it was way into the night when the battle was finally over. Harry spotted a moment of weakness in his opponent and seized the opportunity, "Avada Kadavara!" he yelled.

Unfortunately, Voldemort saw that same moment of weakness in Harry and yelled those same devastating words one second after Harry had.

Surprise lit up Voldemort's face as the green light came towards him and when he finally hit the ground everyone knew, it was over- for both of them. Death-eaters fled, what was left of them at least, and we all watched in horror as Harry fell too. Ginny was right by his side-even before he hit the ground. She was sobbing and for the first time I left Hermione's side to comfort her.

"He- he had asked me to marry him only three hours earlier…" She sniffed and looked up at me. "She loved you, you know, she really did. She told me once that if it wasn't for you-" her voice broke completely and she continued sobbing.

This is not at all, how we thought it was supposed to be. We had so many plans together. We had so many dreams. Now she's gone away and left me with the memories of her smile and nothing I can say or do can take away the pain- the pain of losing her. Never have I known anything so hard to understand-

Never thought it would be me living in a shattered dream, how could this be the end? What I wouldn't give to have a day with her, her smile back. Instead, she'll be forever seventeen. Could have lived out every dream she could have been most anything! We could have had a family, if things had worked out differently. In a matter of a moment, her life fell before my eyes now I'm looking at the meaning of the miracle of life. I'm only going without even knowing the answers deep inside! Forever seventeen-

A strange kind of numbness came over me as we left that night, carrying the reasons we had to get up every morning, our happiness on a horrible day. Now that happiness was gone- snatched away from us, just when we needed it most- carrying them…

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It's been almost two years now, and the memory of my beautiful Hermione still haunts me to this day-

_I'm so tired of being here, suppressed by all my childish fears_

_And if you have to leave, I wish that you would just leave_

_Your presence still lingers here and it won't leave me alone_

_These wounds won't seem to heal this pain is just too real_

_There's just too much that time cannot erase!_

_When you cried I'd, wipe away all of your tears_

_When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears _

_And I've held your hand through all of these years_

_And you still have all of me. _

_You used to captivate me by your resonating light now I'm bound by the life you left behind…_

_Your voice it haunts my once pleasant dreams_

_Your face it chased away all the sanity in me!_

_I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone, but though you're still with me _

_I've been alone all along!_

**She was the wounded butterfly.**

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